Barcode Scanning / Inventory - How do you do it?

So I've owned a copy of Delicious Library for years but never actually used it. The webcam scanning is hit or miss at best and not speedy at all. They offer a bluetooth scanner but for $160, I'm somewhat skeptical - especially since I've seen a few reports of bugs with DL2, and am unsure to its support state.

A quick google recommends DVDPedia, but I can't find much on that either.

Any suggestions? Should I just grit my teeth and make a giant spreadsheet? I just don't want to lose all the work after I'm done; and I've got quite a large pile of things to go through.

USB scanner works great, I've scanned almost 3000 items into the databases. The biggest issue with the Pedias is that you need an Amazon affiliate account to do lookups there - this is due to Amazon's terms of service. The pedia do support other lookups, but Amazon is the most comprehensive.

They no longer make the scanner I use (it's about 8 years old), but it's been very reliable. I got it from IntelliScanner

I think there are desktop & iOS combos that work now for this sort of thing. Some of them are quite patchwork; there's one such now for Delicious Library, but it requires a bit of setup. Not sure I would hold things up to a webcam anymore. I had decent success with some scanner apps on my iPHone, but the setup was non-trivial.

I'm surprised Amazon didn't see the possiblity in setting up a free scanning service that returned recommendations as well as product ID's

I think there are desktop & iOS combos that work now for this sort of thing. Some of them are quite patchwork; there's one such now for Delicious Library, but it requires a bit of setup. Not sure I would hold things up to a webcam anymore. I had decent success with some scanner apps on my iPHone, but the setup was non-trivial.

I'm surprised Amazon didn't see the possiblity in setting up a free scanning service that returned recommendations as well as product ID's

This describes me. I use an external webcam to do my scanning; works just fine. I did do a quick test on my MacBook's iSight and it worked fine, but my collection and scanning are done on my MacMini. Never had a problem with it scanning, but I've only used the 'Pedias from version 5.

Apparently iOS scanning is coming via iPhone. I'm definitely going to fence sit for a bit and see. If that works well, I'll give it a whirl. If not, hopefully they'll update the usb based scanner recommendations.

Apparently iOS scanning is coming via iPhone. I'm definitely going to fence sit for a bit and see. If that works well, I'll give it a whirl. If not, hopefully they'll update the usb based scanner recommendations.

Here's hoping the UI and integration with the OSX version of the iPhone app are good. I'm not too sure about the appearance. But then Shipley was always a big proponent of extreme skeuomorphism. (The the "delicious generation" in the mid naughts) The other thing I want is better support for electronic media like eBooks and hte like.

I would pay cash money for an upgrade to DL simply for proper iPhone integration. That abomination? I'll probably just skip it out of spite and continue adding things by typing in upc codes. I don't mind the skeuomorphic shelves but the title bar and bottom bar is too much and entirely wrong looking.

I would pay cash money for an upgrade to DL simply for proper iPhone integration. That abomination? I'll probably just skip it out of spite and continue adding things by typing in upc codes. I don't mind the skeuomorphic shelves but the title bar and bottom bar is too much and entirely wrong looking.

I think there are desktop & iOS combos that work now for this sort of thing. Some of them are quite patchwork; there's one such now for Delicious Library, but it requires a bit of setup. Not sure I would hold things up to a webcam anymore. I had decent success with some scanner apps on my iPHone, but the setup was non-trivial.

I'm surprised Amazon didn't see the possiblity in setting up a free scanning service that returned recommendations as well as product ID's

Incidentally, there is an iOS barcode scanning app which interfaces with Macs and PC's - iCody. I did get it working to the point where I could scan barcodes into Delicious Library 2, though it's indirect - basically storing scanned data and sending it back into a form field, possibly via a 2nd dedicated app.

Is there any way to use OCR to identify books? So many of my books are older than barcodes, or have lost the flysheets - if I could just photograph them with my iPhone then choose from a list which version mine was that would make cataloguing my library possible...

Is there any way to use OCR to identify books? So many of my books are older than barcodes, or have lost the flysheets - if I could just photograph them with my iPhone then choose from a list which version mine was that would make cataloguing my library possible...

Doesn't the Amazon app allow you to take pictures of Book/DVD covers and match them to products on it's website (and yes, I've found some very old and hard to find books for sale on Amazon through affiliates).

Looks like Delicious Library 3 lacks something I need: on the go access to the database. One of the main reasons I want to get a cataloging application is that I want to be able to determine if I already own something when I'm out shopping. Not being able to pull up my database on my iphone or ipad is a deal-killer.

Looks like Delicious Library 3 lacks something I need: on the go access to the database. One of the main reasons I want to get a cataloging application is that I want to be able to determine if I already own something when I'm out shopping. Not being able to pull up my database on my iphone or ipad is a deal-killer.

PocketPedia for the Pedias can do this. Not sure why DLs app can't do this. I would assume it would allow offline access, but not LOOKUPS while offline.

Looks like Delicious Library 3 lacks something I need: on the go access to the database. One of the main reasons I want to get a cataloging application is that I want to be able to determine if I already own something when I'm out shopping. Not being able to pull up my database on my iphone or ipad is a deal-killer.

Repeating myself a little bit, but there was an awesome iPhone app that they had three years ago, but Amazon made them pull it. It had that feature, and Amazon specifically was the reason it no longer exists.

Ok, we must be talking past each other. There is no way Amazon is preventing anyone from pulling up YOUR database offline or on your phone - they just don't let you use their API. The app was pulled because it could utilize Amazon's API to look stuff up - a violation of their ToS for the API, but that has nothing to do with HAVING your data on the go.

Am I missing something here? I see "on the go access to the database" and I assume that means access to the database that contains books/DVD/whatever you've already entered.

Ok, we must be talking past each other. There is no way Amazon is preventing anyone from pulling up YOUR database offline or on your phone - they just don't let you use their API. The app was pulled because it could utilize Amazon's API to look stuff up - a violation of their ToS for the API, but that has nothing to do with HAVING your data on the go.

Am I missing something here? I see "on the go access to the database" and I assume that means access to the database that contains books/DVD/whatever you've already entered.

Yeah, the iPhone application used to have the whole database (and unfortunately Amazon is preventing it). I don't remember well enough if you could look anything up while you were moving, but I do remember it did have the descriptions. The problem (I think) occurs in that the initial lookup for the information goes through Amazon's API. Here's direct from the company stuff:https://twitter.com/wilshipley/status/2517628640

Quote:

Delicious Library for iPhone isn't coming back as long as we're using Amazon's APIs, unless they decide to make an exception to section 4e.

iPhone App RemovedAmazon has forced us to remove our companion iPhone application from the iTunes App Store, pursuant to section 4(e) of the contract we must operate under as long as we use their data. They declined to specify any reasons for the exclusion of mobile devices.

Ok, we must be talking past each other. There is no way Amazon is preventing anyone from pulling up YOUR database offline or on your phone - they just don't let you use their API. The app was pulled because it could utilize Amazon's API to look stuff up - a violation of their ToS for the API, but that has nothing to do with HAVING your data on the go.

Am I missing something here? I see "on the go access to the database" and I assume that means access to the database that contains books/DVD/whatever you've already entered.

Yeah, the iPhone application used to have the whole database (and unfortunately Amazon is preventing it). I don't remember well enough if you could look anything up while you were moving, but I do remember it did have the descriptions. The problem (I think) occurs in that the initial lookup for the information goes through Amazon's API. Here's direct from the company stuff:https://twitter.com/wilshipley/status/2517628640

Quote:

Delicious Library for iPhone isn't coming back as long as we're using Amazon's APIs, unless they decide to make an exception to section 4e.

iPhone App RemovedAmazon has forced us to remove our companion iPhone application from the iTunes App Store, pursuant to section 4(e) of the contract we must operate under as long as we use their data. They declined to specify any reasons for the exclusion of mobile devices.

Well they must have changed or there must be a way around it as PocketPedia from Bruji allows you to carry your entire database around with you and they had the same issue as DL with the very first version of their software app. Maybe the fact that you have to get an affiliate account before you can look up stuff on Amazon is the differentiator (i.e. you are the responsible party versus the developer). They offer a number of other data sources, it's just that Amazon tends to be one of the better ones.

Well DL3 came out, we gave it a shot with my Logitech Webcam (not their latest "Mac" webcam, the one from 3-4 years ago) and it, well, sucked horribly. I think the scanning was just as slow / hit or miss as DL2 was. That (and this may not be DM's fault) it wouldn't recognize a single game we scanned.

I like that they now support USB scanners instead of just bluetooth based models. I don't mind scanning at my desk as long as its fast and accurate.

Well DL3 came out, we gave it a shot with my Logitech Webcam (not their latest "Mac" webcam, the one from 3-4 years ago) and it, well, sucked horribly. I think the scanning was just as slow / hit or miss as DL2 was. That (and this may not be DM's fault) it wouldn't recognize a single game we scanned.

Using my MBP camera DL2 worked fantastic. I've not had a chance to try the new iPhone app. Maybe it's the camera you are using?